Daddy Time
by Mendori-chan
Summary: Deprived of fatherhood, Edward? Not for long. An Edward/Rensemee bonding fic


Edward's "Daddy time." enjoy. :D

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All I could hear was the soft chime of her laughter in the other room. It was a melody in all sorts, so harmonizing that it could make you forget the world around you.

Oftentimes, I would wonder what she had found so amusing. And then, it would fall back to the fact that almost every single thing was amusing to her.

I smiled a little, dropping the wooden piano cover over its keyboards. Bella and the others had gone hunting for a while, and Jacob momentarily left to visit his father after hearing he had gotten sick. The look of those two—Bella and Jacob, even more so Rosalie now—leaving Renesmee to me with no one else around was excruciating. Was I not allowed, despite the constant love my daughter drowned in everyday with everyone's affections, to share my attention to her as well? The act of prying everyone's fingers off of my lovable daughter would take a beating, and I was glad that Jasper had finally picked up on my mood.

He felt my mood of deprivation.

Not that I was in a hurry, or time mattered. No, I could wait a century for their obsessive affections to fade until they'd be fed-up with Renesmee to the point that they have to shove her to me already. I chuckled at the thought… of how unlikely that would ever be.

Another chime of giggles broke through my reverie. I smiled again, stood up from my chair and walked to the other room in one movement.

"Nessie?" I asked softly before I opened the door to her room. The sight of her sent warmth coursing through my body, softening the gentle way I watched her.

She was nestled on the carpeted floor next to her bed, playing with three dolls Alice had given her. Quietly, she turned her deep chocolate eyes to meet my gaze, and upon seeing me here at her doorstep, a breathtaking smile escaped her lips. She gathered herself up from her Indian-sit to wrap her delicate-looking arms around my waist.

Her heart fluttered happily. "Daddy!"

I automatically embraced her in return and weaved through her soft auburn curls with my fingers. A chuckle broke free from our throats, and then I sighed with content. It was impossible not to be happy around her.

"I heard you laughing," I explained, bending on my knees to meet my daughter's eyes once again. They were so warm that they emanated throughout the whole room, including me. "I was curious."

I saw her eyes light up brighter. Their depths grew even deeper when she smiled that way, a pucker of a dimple emerging subtly on her cheek. I could watch her smile for years, just hoarding this satisfaction she makes me feel. I could not have imagined a much better manifestation of the love Bella and I shared for each other.

"I remembered Jake," she replied, and I could sense that his name sent even deeper warmth that I could not fathom. Her articulation was flawless, incomparable to that of a five-year-old's. Another melody of giggles escaped her perfectly-curved lips. Endearing. Just like her mother.

"So what is it about Jacob that you found so amusing?" I asked. It was not a torture to keep myself out of her thoughts. I preferred to hear them from herself because she knew the right images to show me. As those words flew out, I stroked her soft curls and led them behind her ear so I could see her face better. She was an angelic cherub unparalleled by anything of exquisite beauty.

Renesmee stretched her small hands to touch my face, and I reveled at her warmth before watching the visual images she showed me.

Ah. Jacob.

It was a late afternoon. She and Jacob were in her room together. I could feel her mood in those images and that she was upset. Rosalie apparently had hit Jacob in the face when he had teased her about the smear of blood that stained her cheek. It was from her hunt that she didn't manage to wipe off. Knowing Rosalie, vain as she is, a death penalty would be an appropriate punishment once insulted of her beauty.

"_S'Okay. I'm alright, Nessie," _Jacob comforted her.

"_Auntie shouldn't do that to you…" _a pout popped on her lower lip. And, just like her mother when she was upset, a pucker between her brows made itself more pronounced.

Jacob sighed, and I watched him half-smile. He knew she was truly upset now. So, delicately, he took her in his arms and nuzzled Renesmee's hair with his oversized hand. One finger gently smoothed out the frown off of her face.

"_You're just like your mother," _he told her, and there was warmth in his voice. It must have amused him to find something in common between them which he had once loved so much about Bella. _"You worry too much about useless things."_

Renesmee stayed silent, engrossed by her feelings. I could not blame her because even if Jacob was not at all breakable, it wasn't something amusing to have someone hurt him. It took her by surprise then when Jacob stood up and took one of the dolls Alice had given her.

"_I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world," _Jacob was beginning to sing, twirling around so grossly as he pretended to dance with the doll. He couldn't even mock with perfect grace such a simple melody. My eyes were about to pop open, but I stifled rolling on the floor. A laugh, however, I could not keep in. I burst in amusement, the hilarity of it flowing out of me as I watched Jacob bat his eyelashes.

Renesmee and I laughed together now, and she ended her vision, bringing us back together alone. Where was I during all this? How could I have missed it?

"You were with Mommy, hunting," she said softly, answering my silent question. She threw her arms around my neck and sobbed mockingly. "Auntie Rose got home early. You missed _everything_!"

I hugged her closer, and it was not the memory of Jacob that amused me now. She felt so warm in my arms, and her scent rattled an echo from the monster inside of me. I smothered the demon. I was no longer going to yield to him.

A few months ago, and what now felt like a lifetime, I had always thought I had no soul. I was a monster. I was a monster to have thirsted for Bella's blood, to have loved her endearingly and adoringly, and then to have impregnated her. She was in so much pain then that I would flinch at the memory, however short of a month it was. Her agony would have ripped my entire being if it weren't for her belief in me... in us.

This angel I now caressed in my arms could have killed her. We both could have killed her, and allowing myself to let this happen sent in a new wave of disgust for myself. The self-loathing was starting to commence, but I suppressed it, deciding to listen to Renesmee's heart begin to calm into a steady rhythm.

Yes, she was delicate in so many ways. But how could I have wanted to destroy her before, on that day when Bella and I found out about her existence? Fresh guilt crashed into me… and then I stopped brusquely at the thought.

What mattered now was _this_. Renesmee is part of our family, and her existence alone allowed me to forgive my mistakes. They weren't mistakes, apparently, because it all led to this. They were all leading to the right path—and that path had given us a miracle of a daughter whom we can never live without now.

I inhaled her scent, and it was a scent that was the perfect blend of mine and Bella's. I was not a monster anymore, nor was I ever. How could a one soulless existence ever produce one wonderful soul that now stands and brings joy to all who surrounds her?

"Daddy… I love you." Her voice was soft, and I saw images of both of us playing together, hand-in-hand. She indeed missed me and longed for my company despite the fact she had everyone else's attention already. She wanted me. Her father.

I smiled tenderly, almost too overwhelmed to reply. Almost.

"You are our life now."

I cupped her small body with one arm and carried her to the living room. Warm inviting pink shaded her cheeks when she realized we were headed for the piano. I would have to teach her to play soon, but for now, a new melody played in my head.

The rhythm and song of her delicate, unfaltering laughter and her fluttering heartbeats twined into a song.

We were seated by the piano now and we spent the rest of the afternoon together here, on this instrument I loved. I could see she loved it too, now that we both had composed a melody together. I weaved it into a lullaby, and by the time I heard the front door creak open hours later, Renesmee was already deep in sleep.

Her beauty so calmly displayed in the silence of her slumber remained undisturbed as I continued to play this new melody. I smiled when I inhaled the scent of the individual who had just come in.

"Welcome home, love."

"Edward…" Bella sat with us on the chair. I could feel the tenderness that overpowered her tone when she processed this scene.

Renesmee was lying on my lap, so she took her in her arms and sighed contentedly, caressing our daughter. Her head found its way on my shoulder and subtle purrs of elation escaped her lips.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, referring to my music.

"Both of you are," I replied smilingly, referring to the two women of my life. I chuckled quietly, and then weaved through the piece with a lingering note that ended the lullaby.

I stopped to meet my wife's butterscotch eyes and traced my hand on her face, so delicately as if she were still human. She smiled back at me and rested her face to my chest with Renesmee cuddled tenderly in between us. I held them both closer to me.

How indeed could I not have a soul when I was so much capable of giving and receiving this much love in return?

It was a distant memory now, those moments of fears and temptations. They seemed insignificant now that my existence had turned into full circle with these two most precious miracles I held lovingly in my arms.


End file.
